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The Newfoundland Pony
In the 60s Mum’s family would return from trips to The Rock (Newfoundland) with stories of this sturdy pony they had seen hauling kelp, bringing in the catch from the weirs or the dories, plowing fields and gardens, grading roads, mowing hay, hauling logs, moving rocks, taking the family on driving outings and to church, pulling massive loads, and kids racing their ponies over the open areas. The youngster looked half wild with joy, bouncing, bareback with nothing more than baler twine to control their noble stead! They told stories of fierce fights with feet lashing out and teeth bared, herds running across the road in front of them, free ranging animals, ponies in the ocean swimming while being lead by someone from a boat, an animal freestanding in a boat while being ferried to an island summer pasture, and seeing them drinking salt water and eating seaweed! They also wondered why every garden seemed to have a fence around it.
In the 70’s they would return from Newfoundland wanting to know where all the ponies had gone and why had the fences been removed. They later learned that anti-roaming bylaws had been put in place. The ponies and other livestock could no longer wander freely during the summer months. There was no longer any need to protect the gardens, thus no need for the fences. The ponies and other animals had been moved to community pastures. The ponies demise had begun. They were no longer required to perform their traditional duties. Modernization had arrived in Newfoundland. Ponies were sold and thousands went on the trucks to the mainland for auction. At that time Mum was really “horse crazy” and to appease her hunger for a horse, her Dad would take her to the Truro Auction Mart for the Saturday horse sale. Many animals were sold to farmers as chore horses and to parents wanting to give their child a reliable pony. She remembers watching these animals in hunter and driving classes at the Truro Exhibition . They sure could jump and move out. These ponies once again proved their diversity and adaptability. Others, it is told, were sold for meat to the European market. Some say the Newfoundland Pony has evolved from over 400 years on the harsh climate of the Rock. It derived from the founding British breeds of ponies; the Exmoor, Dartmoor, New Forest, Welsh, Mountain, Highland, Connemara and the extinct Galloway (Fell) . Through natural selection the pony has become a hardy, energetic, efficient pony with an honest and willing nature. Newfoundland’s history was made on the backs of these wonderful animals. Canada’s best kept equine secret, the Newfoundland Pony!
The First Winter
With much excitement I awaited the arrival of my first pair of Newfoundland Ponies. In October 1995 I met the trucker, Jim Wilson, at Spy Hill, a small community in eastern Saskatchewan . Compared to when I first saw & purchased “Princess”, I didn‘t even recognize her. She had put on weight, was very shiny and well groomed. She looked beautiful! Her roached mane had even grown a bit. “Trixie”, I had bought sight unseen ( yes I know you should never do that) so I was very pleased to see this sturdy, typical Exmoor type pony get off the trailer. Both seemed content and willingly went onto our trailer for another 6 hours drive!
They were happy to get off the trailer and immediately began frolicking around their new pasture. The first week I would sit out in the middle of the pasture beaming with pride watching “the girls”. Trixie was the lead mare, more curious , bold and independent. Princess seemed to want to sun bath, be scratched behind her ears and be spoken to in a gentle way. They were already looking like hairy beast to me and it hadn’t got cold. I have since seen how Mother Nature knows more than us in so many ways.
I would daily throw hay out for them that would remain untouched. They didn’t seem interested in drinking the water in the slough (we Maritimers would call it a pond.). I did have a mineral block and it was obvious they were licking it. Of course they seemed content and were not loosing weight.
Soon our prairie Winter did arrive with a vengeance. When I would lay in bed at night listening to the howl of the wind I’d think maybe this would remind them of their homeland. I also hoped that maybe some of Newfoundland’s salty air would blow our way so the Ponies wouldn’t be too lonely without their comrades. In the morning I’d go out and the girls would not be in their man made shelter. Out I’d trek in the snow banks only to find them in a thicket of willows . Other times they’d have their tails to the wind busily pawing the snow to eat the grass underneath. I’d think they must be crazy to be out there in the thick of the wind!
Meanwhile no hay was being eaten. As everything was frozen I was hauling water daily, yet nothing would be drunk. I was starting to worry about my two girls, who looked fine, but not interested in the food or water I would offer them. I do not know if it was my Dad , however, someone suggested I put some salt in their water. That did the trick for getting them to drink water.
I stopped throwing them hay in hopes they’d get hungry and eat. One day while enjoying the beauty of my two Newfies on the bald, cold prairie, sun shining on our backs, I was very surprised to see them eating their straw bedding. Obviously straw became their preferred food, as well as the willow bushes and vegetable peelings I would bring them. They thrived that first winter with the wind swirling snow around their bodies making a trench around them that was sometimes higher than them, resulting a natural wind break.
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